Economy
Sugar Producers Lose Billions of Naira to Flood, Others
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Executive Secretary of the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Mr Latif Busari, has disclosed that producers of sugar in the country have lost several billions of Naira to flood, community hostility over land as well as smuggling of St Louis Cube Sugar.
Mr Busari made this disclosure while speaking in Abuja at the mid-term review meeting on the implementation of the National Sugar Master Plan (NSMP).
He noted that implementation of the policy has reached 40.3 percent between 2013 and 2016 and expressed hope that the master plan would record meaningful success in the years ahead.
The NSDC boss reiterated Federal Government’s commitment in leaving no stone unturned in its drive to achieve all the laudable goals and objectives for the sugar sector as contained in the NSMP roadmap.
According to the NSDC mid-term review, BUA scored 17 percent, Dangote scored 45.8 percent while Golden Sugar scored 58 percent in the targets set in the backward integration plan, including number of projects, new sugar factories, land developed, land under cane, out-grower farms, sugar produced and job creation.
Mr Busari revealed that BUA produced zero tonnes of sugar out of the 15,600 metric tonnes of sugar the company promised to produce during the period under review, Dangote produced 20,200 metric tonnes, being 28 percent of the 72,000 metric tonnes it promised to produce, while Golden Sugar produced 800 metric tonnes, being one percent of the 57,750 metric tonnes the company ought to have produced during the period.
At the meeting, the ES lamented that “many projects that would have raised the implementation profile of the NSMP were stalled by government/host community unwillingness to give out land.
“DSR’s proposal to establish a sugar estate in Zaria Kalakala, Kebbi State was stalled by political elite interference and demands after company had undertaken preliminary perimeter surveys and initiated action for topographical and soil surveys.
“Golden Sugar Estate, Sunti has witnessed so many disruptions during its development and even as recent as March 22, 2017 requiring the intervention of the Police and local Chiefs.
“BUA Group has also reported community hostilities against its operations at its BIP project site in Lafiagi Sugar Estate.
“Four such incidents of physical attacks against contractors working on estate roads and irrigation canals were recorded within the period.
“Flood protection dykes constructed at very huge costs were breached and cane fields washed away. Farm infrastructures – irrigation systems were damaged.
“The sudden discharge of water from Jebba and Kainji dams by the concessionaire companies was responsible for the 2016 incident.”
According to the report’s verdict “the new estate and factory established FMNL, Sunti, appears to be the key significant achievement under Phase 1 of BIP implementation.
“Other expected developments particularly the expansion of factory operations at DSR’s Savannah Sugar Company, Numan, developments at Lau/Tau and installation of factory at BUA’s Lafiagi Sugar Company, all of which would have impacted positively on the local sugar production, dimmed the performance of the sector.”
Mr Busari stressed that “having identified the constraints and designing measures to contain them, the prospects for the effective implementation of the NSMP over the next five years is bright.”
“The combination of the new guidelines with the actions that Government and relevant agencies will be taking will result in a greater commitment by operators and ultimately, more sugar projects and substantial increases in local sugar production levels,” he concluded.
Earlier, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Okechukwu Enelamah, challenged NSDC and stakeholders in the nation’s sugar industry to look beyond the mid-term performance and consider finishing-well.
Mr Enelamah reassured the stakeholders of the government’s commitment at creating business enabling environment, noting that while cement industry is doing well in the backward integration, sugar industry, considering its importance to the people, and should do better.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Geo-Fluids Plc and Afriland Properties Plc propelled the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange up 0.13 per cent on Friday, January 10.
Investors gained N1.4 billion during the trading session after the market capitalisation of the bourse ended at N1.053 trillion compared with the previous day’s N1.052 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased at the close of business by 4.07 points to wrap the session at 3,073.93 points compared with 3,069.86 points recorded at the previous session.
Geo-Fluids added 25 Kobo to its value to close at N4.85 per unit compared with the previous session’s N4.60 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 24 Kobo to close at N16.25 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N16.01 per share.
There was a 35.4 per cent fall in the volume of securities traded in the session as investors exchanged 4.3 million units compared to 6.6 million units traded in the preceding session, the value of shares traded yesterday went down by 37.4 per cent to N17.2 million from the N27.5 million recorded a day earlier, and the number of deals decreased by 47.2 per cent to 19 deals from the 36 deals recorded in the preceding day.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 1.9 million units worth N74.2 million, followed by 11 Plc with 12,963 units valued at N3.2 million, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI )Plc with 10.7 million units sold for N2.1 million.
IGI Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 10.6 million units sold for N2.1 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 1.9 million units valued at N74.2 million, and Acorn Petroleum Plc with 1.2 million units worth N1.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira witnessed a depreciation on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, January 10.
According to data from the FMDQ Exchange, the local currency weakened against the greenback yesterday by 0.12 per cent or N1.80 to sell for N1,543.03/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,541.23/$1.
The pressure on the domestic currency came as the access granted to the Bureaux de Change (BDC) operators by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to purchase FX from the official market through the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) platform prepares to end next week, precisely on January 19.
The CBN had given a 42-day window to the operators to access the platform to help stabilise the Naira in December, and this expires next week.
On Friday, the Nigerian currency tumbled against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N30.78 to sell for N1,889.29/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,858.51/£1, but gained N5.48 against the Euro to finish at N1,583.81/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s rate of N1,589.29/€1.
As for the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira remained stable against the US Dollar during the trading session at N1,650/$1, according to data obtained by Business Post.
In the cryptocurrency market, it was bearish as the US economy added 256,000 jobs last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday, topping forecasts for 160,000 and up from 212,000 in November (revised from an originally reported 227,000).
However, the readings came after a number of recent economic reports triggered a broad-market pullback across asset classes such as crypto as investors quickly scaled back the idea of a continued series of Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2025.
Cardano (ADA) fell by 3.6 per cent to trade at $0.921, Solana (SOL) slumped by 2.8 per cent to $185.93, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 1.4 per cent to $3,233.27, Litecoin (LTC) lost 1.3 per cent to finish at $103.62, Dogecoin (DOGE) shed 0.5 per cent to sell at $0.3315, Bitcoin (BTC), waned by 0.2 per cent to $94,154.43, and Binance Coin (BNB) went south by 0.1 per cent to $693.30.
On the flip side, Ripple (XRP) jumped by 1.5 per cent to settle at $2.34, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) sold flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
Profit-takers took control of Customs Street on Friday, plunging it by 0.08 per cent at the close of trading activities.
The sell-offs were across all the key sectors of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on last trading session of the week.
The insurance space went down by 1.53 per cent, the banking index depreciated by 0.41 per cent, the consumer goods sector weakened by 0.16 per cent, and the energy counter slumped by 0.08 per cent, while the industrial goods sector closed flat.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) tumbled by 79.68 points to 105,451.06 points from 105,530.74 points and the market capitalisation retreated by N48 billion to N64.303 trillion from N64.351 trillion.
Yesterday, investors traded 1.5 billion shares worth N19.4 billion in 12,877 deals compared with the 489.5 million shares worth N13.1 billion transacted in 13,010 deals in the preceding day, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 1.02 deals and a rise in the trading volume and value by 203.14 per cent and 48.09 per cent, respectively.
Wema Bank was the busiest stock with 976.2 million units valued at N9.8 billion, Tantalizers traded 53.0 million units worth 129.6 million, Universal Insurance sold 34.8 million units for N26.8 million, Access Holdings exchanged 33.9 million units valued at N843.8 million, and Nigerian Breweries traded 27.3 million units worth N873.3 million.
The heaviest loss was suffered by Sunu Assurances with a decline of 9.99 per cent to trade at N7.30, Eunisell shed 9.96 per cent to N17.35, SAHCO crumbled by 9.87 per cent to N30.15, DAAR Communications plunged by 9.28 per cent to 88 Kobo, and Sovereign Trust Insurance went down by 7.04 per cent to N1.32.
On the flip side, C&I Leasing gained 10.00 per cent to close at N4.51, Honeywell Flour appreciated by 9.99 per cent to N10.02, Trans Nationwide Express jumped by 9.89 per cent to N2.00, RT Briscoe rose by 9.83 per cent to N2.57, and Secure Electronic Technology grew by 9.46 per cent to 81 Kobo.
Business Post reports that the bourse ended with 33 price gainers and 25 price losers, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
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